


And then you came along

by merrymarinerrevengesong



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Betty is Archie's best friend from College, College AU, F/M, Is Archie oblivious or a cunning matchmaker?, Jughead is Archie's best friend from High School, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, You Decide
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-24
Updated: 2019-03-23
Packaged: 2019-11-29 02:16:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18216845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merrymarinerrevengesong/pseuds/merrymarinerrevengesong
Summary: Betty knows Jughead long before she meets him. Archie Andrews hardly makes it a day without regaling her with an apropos tale of his childhood best friend. So even though the name is familiar and the information is abundant, the snippets of Jughead fail to coalesce into a coherent whole until the man himself is standing in front of her asking to borrow a mug.Archie's best friend from high school wants to crash on his couch for a week and Betty is like, hmm yes please.:: Rating is just for language at the moment but will possibly increase in later chapters::





	And then you came along

Archie asks Betty if his best friend from Riverdale can stay over the day before he arrives in town. Outside it’s finally starting to feel like Summer and Betty has spent a delicious Saturday night alone reading a book on their porch. She’s delighting in the feel of the warm breeze on her bare legs, lost in her novel until her housemate pulls her back to herself.

“Betty, you're not studying on a Saturday night are you?”

She rolls her eyes affectionately at Archie. Term’s already finished and the last of her exams are behind her.

“No, I'm just reading.” She smiles, swinging her legs off the bench to make room for him to join her.

He’s alone, his latest paramour apparently having opted not to stay the night.

“I’m glad I caught you actually. My best friend from Riverdale’s visiting this week, do you mind if he crashes on the couch?”

Archie had a habit of referring to most of his Riverdale High classmates as  _ like  _ his  _ best friend from Riverdale _ so it had taken Betty a while to sort out all the anecdotes and the characters populating them. Almost a year of living with Archie and she’s still not sure she has it all right.

“Reggie, right?” She guesses.

Archie shakes his head “No, Reggie’s my best friend from the Bulldogs. Jughead’s coming to town, I basically grew up with him even though he went to a different high school. Hang on someone posted a school photo on FaceLook last week.” He pulls his phone out of his pocket and scrolls through his photos. When he finds the one’s he’s looking for he presents it to Betty and she leans in to squint at it on the smudged screen. It’s one of those formal whole grade photos. 

Archie points out his awkwardly pubescent self standing next to a skinny looking boy in a flannel and beanie. Someone’s obviously taken a photo of the hardcopy on their phone and uploaded it. Though it’s almost too blurry to make anything out without Archie’s commentary, she can tell that little ginger Archie has a huge dorky grin plastered on his face, whereas his friend wears a guarded, slightly suspicious look on his. 

“Umm... sure, how long will he be in town?”

Archie grins and shrugs, “A week tops, he’s been staying with family in Toledo this year and working so I haven’t seen him in ages.” He turns back to his phone and almost as an afterthought adds,  “Actually you'll get on with Jughead, he’s always got his head in some weird book.”

Betty's head jerks back at that, “I don’t read  _ weird _ books.”

“Sure, but I mean he’s a bookworm like you. He's always scribbling in his notebooks or typing away at his laptop or typewriter. Actually, Betts!” Archie finally puts his phone down and turns to her, his face is bright with excitement “You’d love it! Jughead used to write for the student newspaper and he had this cool vintage typewriter that he found at a car boot sale in Greendale. He’d spend  _ every _ weekend typing away on that thing when he first revived the Red and Black.” 

It’s clear from his tone that Archie feels the loss of a weekend to writing for the school newspaper to be nothing short of tragic.

Betty’s good mood has now completely dissipated. She closes her book in her lap, and tamps down on the irritation pooling in her stomach. 

_ She'd  _ revived her school newspaper the Blue and Gold in her freshman year. She remembered (with nothing short of fondness) the long hours she slogged away on her own in the anachronistic, dusty office in the paper’s first 6 months because no matter who she begged no one wanted to write for the Blue and Gold. The thought of having to spend a week listening to some sullen, messy-haired guy waffle endlessly about his own journalistic efforts in high school grates on her.

Betty shakes the image from her head and turns on her brightest Cooper-approved smile, more  for her own fortification than Archie’s benefit.

“Cool!” she chirps. Even to her own ears the tone sounds a little  _ too _ enthusiastic, but Archie doesn’t seem to notice, distracted as he is replying to a message he’s just received. Her ponytail bobs as she pulls herself up from the couch. “You know, Arch, I’m feeling really tired, I’m going to turn in for the night.”

“Sure thing, Betts. Night.”

Latter, lying in bed her eyes fixed on the same page she’s been staring at for the past fifteen minutes, Betty can’t help but feel this Jughead character sounds like he’s going to be a massive pain.

 

* * *

 

“So you're  _ sure _ your housemate doesn't mind me crashing on the couch?” Jughead worries at the cord of the payphone in the bus terminal. He has to press the receiver close to his ear to make out Archie's reply, a breezy chuckle.

“I’m  _ sure _ , Jug. I asked her after dinner, she's totally cool with you staying.”

Jughead can't help but marvel at his oldest friend's guilelessness. “Have you considered that she might’ve said that out of politeness?”

Archie pauses at this, “I keep forgetting you’ve never met her. Trust me, you don’t need to worry about Betty Cooper being too polite to speak her mind, she’s  _ fierce _ . Within a month of arriving at College, she’d written an expose on the culture of sexual harassment in fraternities and the college’s complicity in covering up student misconduct.”

Pride flares in Archie’s voice and Jughead wonders not for the first time whether there could be something more than friendship percolating between him and his housemate.

“Well it’ll be good to meet my replacement at least, this Betty person sounds nice from all the things you’ve said about her.”

Jughead can basically hear Archie’s eyebrows disappear into his hairline.

“Don’t worry Jughead, you’re not going to have to play third wheel. It’s not like that between me and Betty.” 

Privately Jughead is sure his best friend is so oblivious he probably wouldn’t notice if she was into him even if she painted literal heart eyes on her face.

“Besides,” Archie continues sagely, “Betty’s a lesbian. She’s never shown any interest in any of the guys who hit on her, and Cheryl told me she made out with Ronnie at a sorority party in fresher week.”

“Aren’t you sleeping with Ronnie?” Jughead asks.

“Yeah, and?”

“Well … I just mean if Ronnie-”

Jughead isn’t able to finish this thought because the final call for his bus comes over the announcement system. He says a hurried goodbye to Archie and joins it.

Mercifully the seat next to him is empty and Jughead takes the opportunity to stretch his legs. He pulls his book out of his bag but his stomach is churning with nervous energy. He can’t concentrate. He settles for staring out the window, trying to penetrate the darkness to see the landscape slip by. The reflection of his own face, brow furrowed in worry keeps obscuring the view. 

After a year of scrimping and saving, following on from a childhood and adolescence of precariousness, he’s overwhelmed by the thought that he may finally be about to start his life. College. 

The journey is an all-nighter and though he tries to let the rhythmic rumble of the bus lull him to sleep, he jerks awake every few minutes. When he arrives in town in the morning he has a crick in his neck and his eyes sting with fatigue. 

The campus tour, lead by an impossibly perky cheerleader type, seems to drag on forever. The early summer sun beats down on Jughead and though he's only packed a single sturdy backpack with a week's worth of clothes, after a few hours of trudging around campus his back is slick with sweat. When one of the people on the tour, a pimply kid accompanied by his mum,  suggests he’d be more comfortable if he removed his beanie and leather jacket he grinds his teeth and ignores him.

No way. Jughead is deep in enemy territory here and needs 100% of his battle armor, even if he is beyond sweltering in his leather jacket, black jeans and beanie.

 

* * *

 

Betty is up and out of the house early the day Jughead arrives in town so she doesn’t meet him until the evening. It's not until she's on her way home from the library (a little extra research for a piece she’s working on), that she notices Archie's message letting her know he's invited a few friends around for drinks so Jughead can meet people. Betty sighs.

She arrives home to find, predictably enough, her and Archie’s friend Ronnie has arrived and is already mixing cocktails in the kitchen. The grinning brunette pushes a drink into Betty's hands and she accepts it with a smile. Betty finds Ronnie's love of a party infectious.

While getting changed, Betty relays Archie’s description of Jughead to Ronnie.

“Aww, B!” She exclaims mischievous and touch sarcastic, “Your very own Holden Caulfield, lucky you! But seriously why with the weird book comment? Rude much, Archie!”

Betty rolls her eyes,  _ “Thank you. _ ” She’s relieved that Ronnie understands why Archie's comment rubbed her the wrong way. “Seriously though, what, exactly, constitutes a  _ weird book _ in Archie’s mind?”

“B, some questions are best left unanswered.” A wicked grin spreads across the brunette’s face “What I’m curious to learn however, is whether Archiekin’s friend actually brought his typewriter with him.”

The thought has both girls in fits of giggles sipping their cocktails.

Having finished their ablutions, they leave Betty's bedroom and join the rest of the party. Archie's houseguest is nowhere to be seen.

 

* * *

 

By the time the tour winds up, Jughead wants nothing more than to get to Archie's place, eat an enormous meal and fall asleep.

Unfortunately Archie’s directions to his house, conveyed by text message that morning, are less than helpful to begin with and even less useful when the battery on Jughead's phone goes flat. What should've been a 5 minute walk turns into a 45 minute expedition that mostly involves Jughead traipsing around the streets surrounding campus in confusion until a street name rings a bell. Eventually the strategy works and he finds the right street and number.

Standing on the sidewalk outside Archie’s house he can already hear the sound of a party from inside. Jughead groans in frustration and lets his head tip back. Why on earth would Archie host a party the night he gets into town and not even tell him? Surely Archie knows him better after all these years.

He suppresses a sigh of frustration and reminds himself that he's crashing on Archie's couch and needs to act a bit more grateful. But he'll be damned if he's going to give Archie the bottle of wine he'd picked up for him in a whim as a thank you for letting him stay. Childish, maybe. But now the thought has occurred to him, Jughead intends to follow through. He digs his empty hand into his front pocket and slouches through the already open front door in search of, at the very least, a drink.

 

* * *

 

Betty’s sitting in the living room engaged in an only semi-mind-numbing conversation with Cheryl from her Women’s Studies 101 tutorial when the feeling of being scrutinised causes her to glance up. An unfamiliar thrill runs up her spine when she locks eyes with the flannel-clad stranger standing in the doorway of her living room.

She watches him for a second before a small lopsided smile breaks across his face and he nods at her, making his way across the room.

“Hey,” he says “Sorry, I got lost on the way over. You're Betty, right? I recognise you from Archie's FaceLook.”

Betty shakes the proffered hand and stands up, aware of how much taller than her he is when she's seated. But now she's standing she can’t shake the feeling that she’s too close to him, the living room being on the small side even before a dozen people crammed themselves in for libations. And God his eyes are  _ really _ blue. 

“You don't happen to have a mug or anything I can borrow?” He asks, lifting the bottle of wine that was hanging at his side.

Betty is suddenly aware she's not said a word since he’d arrived, she mentally shakes herself.

“We do!” She says smiling and pointing vaguely in the direction of the kitchen. “They’re in the cupboard above the sink.” 

He nods and moves away to find the kitchen, his journey made slow by the crowd.

From her place next to Cheryl, curled up on the couch like a cat, Veronica clears her throat.

“B!” She says in a stage whisper, “Mr. On The Road over there got lost walking the block from campus, are you really going to unleash him on your kitchen unchaperoned?”

Betty throws Veronica a wide-eyed look she hopes will strike her down, or failing that at least get her to shut up. Veronica responds with a small shrug, clearly meant to convey a silent  _ What? He’s cute. _

Betty’s jostled by one of Archie’s football friends and decides that perhaps showing Archie’s  _ best friend from high school _ where the kitchen is, may at least lead to an opportunity to duck out of the party for a minute on her own. Besides, he’s heading in the wrong direction entirely.

“Wait,” she calls after Jughead “Let me grab one for you.”

Jughead steps back to let her pass then trails after her.

Neither notice the face Cheryl pulls at being unceremoniously abandoned mid anecdote, nor the silent rebuke Ronnie administers to the redhead with a single arched eyebrow.

In the small kitchen Betty has to stand on her toes to reach one of the few remaining mugs right up the back of the top shelf of the cupboard. When she grabs one and turns around, she finds Jughead's taken a step towards her and that strange thrill runs up her spine again at their proximity. He steps back quickly.

“Sorry, I was going to help reach-”

His face has a pink flush that could either be too much sun or plain embarrassment.

Betty wills her own cheeks to behave themselves and hands over the mug. He offers to pour her one but Betty declines.

“Ronnie made jalapeño margaritas ...” Jughead nods. “So you're Jughead Jones.” She continues with a smile. It’s not one of the patented Cooper smiles she has to reach for. This one comes surprisingly easy.

Must be the margaritas.

That lopsided grin makes another appearance and he holds her gaze steadily, “Why do I get the horrible feeling Archie’s been talking about me?”

“Mmm, he’s mentioned you once or twice” she smiles into her margarita.

Jughead groans and leans against the counter next to her “God. I'm kind of worried now.” He looks at her sideways, “He didn’t say anything unsavoury I hope?”

Betty pauses as if to consider this, enjoying the way he fidgets a little. “Unsavoury, no. But I’ve got to admit I’m a little disappointed to see you without your typewriter.”

Jughead groans again and tips his head back and lets out a grunt of embarrassment.

For some reason Betty doesn’t want to take her eyes off his long, exposed neck or the bob of his Adam’s apple.

“In my defence that was  _ one _ winter in high school.” he says.

Betty remembers the photo Archie showed her last night, the guarded look in that kid’s face and  feels bad for teasing him for being a writer.

“No, don’t be embarrassed, Archie was telling me that you wrote for your school newspaper because I did too.” God,  _ when _ did her hand end up on his arm? And why can’t she move it? “I mean I think he thought it was a thing we could talk about that’s all.”

_ So smooth, Cooper _ she thinks,  _ Really articulate. _

Jughead dips his head towards hers, a conspiratorial smile playing across his lips “Ah-ha, so you’re an earnest writer too.”

Heat crawls up her chest and Betty can’t stop a laugh from erupting from her lips.

“Is it alright if we step outside?” He asks pulling a packet of cigarettes from his pocket.

Betty nods, “I could do with some fresh air, actually.”

In the movement to get out of the kitchen she finds her opportunity to remove her hand from his arm. Even though it’s a warm evening, the air feels too cool against her palm after resting on his flannel and she immediately stuffs it into her pocket. 

“Actually, Archie's told me a bit about you as well,” he says as he lights a cigarette, “He mentioned you're studying journalism, so I already knew about the whole earnest writer thing.” There's a twinkle in his eye as he holds her gaze. Normally Betty would demure at the invitation there but tonight she can’t for the life of her look away.

“Now I’m the one feeling a little exposed.”

That half-smile plays along his lips again and her stomach swoops like she’s missed a step.

“Archie’s only said good things about you. He mentioned an expose on sexual harassment on campus?”

Betty feels her smile fade and some of the warmth pooling in her limbs dissipates, “That whole saga was disgusting, it still makes me angry to think about it.” Her fists ball briefly at her side then she exhales.

“Yeah sounds like heavy material.”

She can hear the concern in his voice, and something compels her to be honest. Maybe it’s that she’s never spoken to him before today, and that frees her from the normal expectation of all-American perfection she finds so stifling.

“Yeah, it was. And the whole reason I first started looking into it is because I was trying to get in contact with my sister.”

“Wait, so your sister was one of your sources?” 

Betty shakes her head, her eyes fixed on the ground stinging, “No,I haven’t spoken to my sister all year. She hasn’t really spoken to anyone in my family since she she got pregnant.” Betty swallows, he throat suddenly tight, “Um… but I was asking around about her boyfriend and he was on the football team, and that’s when I heard the stories. I guess once I heard them, I had to pursue the story, I couldn’t stop.”

Juhead exhales audibly. His hand finds its way to her arm, and he bends his knees a little to try and catch her eye again. His touch is light and brief and when she looks up, his face is open and there isn’t any pity or pressure.

“Are you ok? We can talk about something else if you want to Betty.”

“Sorry ... yeah, I’m good. I just don’t really talk about my sister that often. At all really. Fucking embarrassing.”

He nods and she has the feeling he’s actually listening to her and thinking her words over.

“It’s not embarrassing to have weird family stuff,” he says softly, “I spent most of my teenage years in a different state to my mum and sister, so I get it, family’s complicated sometimes.”

She nods and opens her mouth to ask him a question when behind her the door to the yard opens and Ethel Muggs and Dilton Doiley explode outside in a fit of laughter. 

Dilton jostles Betty gently and she’s pushed into Jughead’s chest. Her breath catches in her throat at being pressed against him so intimately. She still can’t believe how blue his eyes are. 

Dilton and Ethel have moved further into the yard to smoke and continue whatever joke had them laughing so hard in the first place and there’s no one behind her now, she could take a step back and break out of his embrace but he’s smiling at her and she’s lost in the sensation of missing a step again except this is a really long step because she swooping feeling doesn’t stop; she’s still falling even though his hand is resting gently on her elbow as though to steady her.

Jughead’s fingers brush very gently against her cheek and her lids grow heavy and flutter closed. Of its own volition, as though lead by a magnet, her body leans into his and is full of pins and needles and a low, insistent thrumming of  _ yesyesyes _ .

“Jug?!” There’s another explosion of noise from behind her. 

This time it’s Archie’s familiar voice that has her pulling back form Jughead, whose hand has fallen from her body and is firmly stuffed back into his pocket.

Their mutual friend Archie bounds over to them and hangs an easy arm around each of their shoulders. Betty can tell from his loose smile and slightly flushed face that he’s had a couple of Ronnie’s jalapeño margaritas.

“You two have met!” he exclaims loudly, pulling them both close for a hug then releasing them, “I’m so happy!”

He either doesn’t notice or doesn’t mention their proximity. 

Betty bites back a laugh and meets Jugheads eyes. She notes with no small amount of satisfaction that they’re dark, his pupils blown wide. Her body thrums again and she smiles at him, “Yeah, we were just getting acquainted, actually” she smiles sweetly and Jughead snorts into his mug of wine, ears slightly pink.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EEEEEEEEP. It's been an actual age since I've posted fanfic and I've been sitting on this chapter for a couple of months so I'm feeling rather nervous!
> 
> Unbeta'd, so apologies for any spelling/ tense gaffs or Australian-isms that have snuck through.
> 
> Comments and kudos are greatly appreciated naturally :) :)


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